First Orbit

Storyline

A real time recreation of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering first orbit, shot entirely in space from on board the International Space Station. The film combines this new footage with Gagarin’s original mission audio and a new musical score by composer Philip Sheppard.
April 12th 1961 – Yuri Gagarin is about to see what no other person has seen in the history of humanity – the Earth from space. In the next 108 minutes he'll see more than most people do in a lifetime. What sights awaited the first cosmonaut silently gliding over the world below? What was it like to view the oceans and continents sailing by from such a height?
In a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency, and the Expedition 26/ 27 crew of theInternational Space Station, we have created a new film of what Gagarin first witnessed fifty years ago.
By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin's Vostok 1spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it.
Weaving these new views together with historic, recordings of Gagarin from the time, (subtitled in Englsih) and an original score by composer Philip Sheppard, we have created a spellbinding film to share with people around the world on this historic anniversary.
We have partnered with YouTube to share First Orbit with the World in a special global streaming event which took place on the 12th April. The Yuri's Night network also showed the film at over 550 parties around the world that evening. If you watched it at one of these events on this Yuri's Night clickable party map, then please send us any pictures you might have taken. You can contact us here.
And if you missed it then why not make a date with our YouTube channel and organize your own party to share it with friends! And if you'd like to hold a major screening event then check out our details of how you can download the film, to be part of our global screening network. You can even download a poster fromhere to print out and advertise your screening. Whatever you do we'd love to hear how you shared First Orbit and what you did to remember Yuri - our first space man!